Overview of the Collection

Creator:

Cheever, Bruce

Title:

Bruce Cheever
railroad photographs

Dates:

1890-1977 ( inclusive )

Quantity:

3 Linear Ft.

Collection Number:

XOE_CPNWS0028cheever

Summary:

The Bruce Cheever railroad photographs depict railway systems in Washington state, Oregon, other states of
the region, and also British Columbia from the late 19th century to the late
20th Century. The photographs depict railway cars, engines, and other rolling
stock of railroads and railways throughout the Pacific Northwest as well as
railway conductors, passengers, train stations, wharves and city
scenes.

Funding for preparing this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was
awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical Note

Bruce Bissell Cheever, an avid scholar of railroad history and lore,
amassed an impressive collection of photographs relating to railroads and
interurban railway systems in the Pacific Northwest in a lifetime of research
on the subject. After earning his Master's Degree in Social Studies from the
University of Washington, Mr. Cheever became an instructor in the Economics
Department at Western Washington State College of Education in 1948.

In 1951, Bruce Cheever took a leave of absence from Western to pursue
his personal academic interests. Instead of returning to teaching after his
leave of absence, he began a career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
This career change did not dilute his interest or research pursuits in
railroads and interurban railway systems.

Cheever published works from the 1940s through the 1970s. His works
include "Electric Railroads in Whatcom County" published in Trolley Sparks,
three articles written for Traction and Models: "The Fairhaven and New Whatcom
Street Railway Company," "The Bellingham-Skagit Interurban," and "The
Bellingham Streetcar System" and a monograph titled "The Development of
Railroads in the State of Washington: 1860 to 1948," published in 1949 by the
Western Washington College of Education.

Content Description

The collection comprises approximately three linear feet of material,
consisting of photographs and a small amount of textual material, including
correspondence, notes, maps, train schedules, and manuscripts and drafts of
Cheever’s many publications pertaining to his railroad research.

The photographs, which comprise the bulk of the collection, depict
railway cars, engines and other rolling stock of railroads and railways
throughout the Pacific Northwest. Railway systems in the State of Washington
are particularly well represented, and within the state, most notably Whatcom
County and the Seattle area. There are also photographs of several railways in
British Columbia, and others from Oregon and other states in the region, but
these are few in number compared to Washington State railways, the emphasis of
Cheever’s research interest.

Administrative Information

The Bruce Cheever railroad photographs are organized in
accordance with the following series and sub-series arrangement:

Series I: Photographs, circa 1890-1950

Sub-series 1: Washington State, 1890-1947

Sub-series 2: Other States and Provinces, 1898-1954

Sub-series 3: Unidentified Prints and Negatives, Undated

Series II: Textual Materials, undated; 1912-1977

Sub-series 1: Index, Undated

Sub-series 2: Research/Reference Materials, 1912-1974

Sub-series 3: Articles Written by Bruce Cheever,
1968-1975

Processing Note :

Amber Raney re-engineered the Bruce Cheever railroad photographs for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in June 2004. Changes
made to the initial arrangement of the collection included further preservation
of the photographs. This involved re-housing them in acid-free folders, and
buffering them with acid-free paper. In addition, the textual materials were
divided up into three sub-series, including the card index of the
photographs.

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.

Series I: Photographs, circa 1880-1955

Container(s)

Description

Dates

Sub-series
1: Washington
State

circa 1890-1947

Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, and
Anacortes Area

circa 1890-1947

Box/Folder

1/1

General (BMA-A to BMA-C)

Undated

1/2

General (BMA-1 to BMA-15)

Undated

1/3

Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad (BMA-16
to BMA-31)

Undated

1/4

Bellingham Bay and British Columbia Railroad (BMA-32
to BMA-46)

Undated

1/5

Bellingham Bay and Eastern Railroad (BMA-47 to
BMA-52)

Undated

1/6

Bellingham Bay Electric Street Railway (BMA-53)

Undated

1/7

Bellingham and Northern Railroad (BMA-54 to BMA-57)

Undated

1/8

Fairhaven and New Whatcom Railway (BMA-58 to BMA-70)

Undated

1/9

Fairhaven and Southern Railroad Company (BMA-71 to
BMA-72)

Undated

1/10

Fidalgo City and Anacortes Railway Company (BMA-73)

Undated

1/11

Great Northern Railroad (BMA-74 to BMA-81)

Undated

1/12

Lake Whatcom Line (BMA-82 to BMA-84)

Undated

1/13

Larson Lumber Company (BMA-85 to BMA-90)

Undated

1/14

Pacific Northwest Traction Company (BMA-91 to
BMA-106)

Undated

1/15

Pacific Northwest Traction Company (BMA-107 to
BMA-122)

Undated

2/1

Puget Sound Traction, Power and Light Company
(BMA-123 to BMA-129)

Undated

2/2

Skagit River Railroad (BMA-130 to BMA-144; BMA-144A)

Undated

2/3

Whatcom County Railway and Light Company (BMA-145 to
BMA-167;BMA-167A)

Undated

Centralia and Chehalis Area

Box/Folder

2/4

Centralia Electric and Traction Company (CC-168)

Undated

2/5

Skookum Bay Railroad (CC-169)

Undated

2/6

Twin City Railroad Company (CC-170)

Undated

2/7

Washington Electric Railway (CC-171 to CC-172)

Undated

Everett Area

Box/Folder

2/8

Everett Railway and Electric Company (E-173 to
E-174)

Undated

2/9

Hall and Hall Railroad (E-175 and E-175A)

Undated

2/10

Northern Pacific Railroad (E-176)

Undated

Grays Harbor Area

Box/Folder

2/11

Grays Harbor Electric Company (GH-177 to GH-178)

Undated

2/12

Grays Harbor Railway and Light Company (GH-179 to
GH-181)

Undated

Inland Empire
Area

Box/Folder

2/13

General (IE-182 to IE-186)

Undated

2/14

Coeur d'Alene and Spokane Valley (IE-187 to IE-192)

Undated

2/15

Great Northern (IE-193 to IE-208)

Undated

2/16

Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, and Palouse Railway (IE-209
to IE-214)

Undated

2/17

Spokane and Inland Railway (IE-215 to IE-218)

Undated

2/18

Spokane United Railway (IE-219 to IE-221)

Undated

2/19

Washington Water and Power Company of Spokane
(IE-222 to IE-227)

Undated

Seattle Area

Box/Folder

2/20

General (S-A to S-C; S-228 to S-244)

Undated

3/1

General (S-245 to S-260)

Undated

3/2

General (S-261 to S-277)

Undated

3/3

Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad (S-278 to S-294)

Undated

3/4

James Street Cable (S-295 to S-311)

Undated

3/5

Lake Washington Cable Railway Company (S-312 to
S-317)

Undated

3/6

Madison Street Cable Railway Company (S-318 to
S-320)

Undated

3/7

Pacific Coast Railroad Company (S-321 to S-338)

Undated

3/8

Pacific Coast Railroad Company (S-339 to S-355)

Undated

3/9

Pacific Coast Railroad Company (S-356 to S-371)

Undated

3/10

Puget Sound and Baker River Railroad (S-372)

Undated

3/11

Seattle City Railway Company (S-373 to S-374)

Undated

3/12

Seattle Electric Railway Company (S-375 to S-378)

Undated

3/13

Seattle and Municipal Street Railway Company (S-379
to S-396)

Undated

3/14

Seattle Traction Company (S-397 to S-398)

Undated

3/15

Seattle Union Trunk Line (S-399)

Undated

3/16

Western Street and North End Electric Railway
(S-400)

Undated

Seattle-Everett
Area

Box/Folder

4/1

North Coast Transportation Company (SE-401 to
SE-417)

Undated

4/2

Pacific Northwest Traction Company (SE-418 to
SE-435)

Undated

4/3

Pacific Northwest Traction Company (SE-436 to
SE-453)

Undated

4/4

Pacific Northwest Traction Company (SE-454 to
SE-471)

Undated

4/5

Seattle Electric Railway Company (SE-472)

Undated

4/6

Seattle-Everett Interurban Railway (SE-473 to
SE-476)

Undated

4/7

Seattle-Everett Traction Company (SE-477)

Undated

Seattle-Renton Area

Box/Folder

4/8

Seattle, Renton, and Southern Railway (SR-478 to
SR-480)

Undated

4/9

Seattle and Rainier Valley Railway (SR-481 to
SR-486)

Undated

Seattle-Tacoma
Area

Box/Folder

4/10

General (ST-487)

Undated

4/11

Puget Sound Electric Railway (ST-488 to ST-502)

Undated

4/12

Puget Sound Electric Railway (ST-503 to ST-517)

Undated

Seattle-Walla Walla
Area

Box/Folder

4/13

Seattle-Walla Walla Railroad and Transportation
Company (SW-518 to SW-519)